1. Technical Field
The technical field relates to a new ceramic and a piezoelectric or electrostriction element using the ceramic.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-261435) discloses a method of manufacturing a BNT piezoelectric body including a mixing step for mixing a plate-like Bi4Ti3O12 grains, a perovskite-forming raw material that produces a perovskite-type compound expressed by x(Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3)−(1−x)ABO3 (wherein 0.1≦x≦1) by reacting with the plate-like grains, and a Bi-containing raw material including Bi at least in 0.5% excess of the stoichiometric mixture ratio for Bi contained in the perovskite compound. This method of manufacture is further provided with a shaping step in which the mixture obtained in the mixing step is shaped so that plate-like grains become oriented, and a heat processing step in which the shaped body obtained in the shaping step is heated. Patent Literature 1 is directed to manufacture a high-density BNT piezoelectric body by use of this method which employs a reactive template grain growth method.
Patent Literature 2 (European Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1972606) discloses the manufacture of a crystallographically-oriented ceramic using a PZT sheet having a preset orientation as a template.